Cornwall Council to push Net Zero back 15 years

VOTE TAKEN IN 2019 TO BE 'RESET' AFTER ADVICE

- By LEE TREWHELA

CORNWALL Council is set to push back its much-heralded Net Zero target by 15 years. The council voted in 2019 to be carbon neutral by 2030, but following advice from officers the authority is due to “reset” to what it sees as a more realistic date of 2045.

A meeting of the council's sustainable growth scrutiny committee heard on Tuesday that Cornwall’s emissions have reduced by between 2-3% annually since 2019, well below the rate of reduction required to meet the target of being carbon neutral by 2030 and “illustrating the scale of challenge we collectively face to decarbonise the economy”.

The committee agreed to a recommendation that the target be pushed back to 2045 as part of plans to reset Cornwall Council's climate and nature recovery ambitions. The matter will now go to the council’s Liberal Democrat / Independent coalition cabinet for backing.

As part of its new Net Zero by 2045 target, the council aims to ensure that 100% of Cornwall's electricity demand is met by renewable sources by 2035, with 8,000 hectares of additional trees planted by the same year and that 65% recycling is met by 2035. It also has a target that all private rented properties have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2030, with the same aim for all Cornwall Housing council stock. The council also wants to have a Net Zero emissions reduction rate of 90% by 2040 (70% by the original target of 2030).